Comprehensive Care for Children with Liver Tumors
At Cincinnati Children’s, physicians and researchers are at the forefront of providing innovative surgical and medical therapies for patients with liver tumors.
Our Liver Tumor Program within the Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute brings together specialists from a variety of disciplines, including:
- Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
- Oncology
- Pediatric liver transplantation
They provide comprehensive, multidisciplinary care for children and young adults with:
- Newly diagnosed hepatoblastoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, hemangioendothelioma and other forms of liver cancer
- Advanced, unresponsive or relapsed liver cancer
- Complex liver tumors that may require a liver transplant
The Liver Tumor Program at Cincinnati Children’s is a national leader that continues to grow. From 2007 to 2008, the number of patients coming for treatment more than doubled. And, in 2008, surgeons at Cincinnati Children’s performed nearly 15 percent of all the hepatoblastoma cancer-related pediatric liver transplants performed in the nation that year.
Families are drawn to the Liver Tumor Program at Cincinnati Children’s not only because of our innovative therapies, but also because of our approach to patient care, which involves creating a highly individualized treatment plan for each patient.
Our specialists’ team approach benefits patients in many ways, specifically by fostering early detection, an accurate diagnosis and appropriate, coordinated treatment. The team includes experts in cancer care, hepatology, gastroenterology, pediatric liver transplantation, and nutrition therapy.
Depending on the child’s needs, the team may ask other specialists at Cincinnati Children’s to be involved, including but not limited to those from:
- Interventional radiology (use of image guidance to provide diagnosis and targeted treatment)
- Genetics
- Liver transplantation
- Pathology (laboratory services)
- Pediatric critical care
- Physical medicine and rehabilitation
- Radiation therapy
- Radiology
The medical director of the Liver Tumor Program at Cincinnati Children’s is James I. Geller, MD, a pediatric oncologist and an expert in liver tumor therapy and new anticancer drug development.
By bringing together experts in different areas, our multidisciplinary team makes clinic visits more efficient for families and ensures thoughtful, coordinated care.
Individualized Treatment
Each new patient undergoes an extensive evaluation in which specialists from different areas of expertise come together to review the child’s medical needs. The team shares perspectives from the most up-to-date research and clinical practice to develop an individualized treatment plan. These specialists continue to collaborate throughout the child’s course of treatment and provide referring physicians with regular updates.
Nursing Excellence
Nurses play an integral role on the multidisciplinary team, providing patient care and extensive education. In fact, Cincinnati Children’s is known for nursing excellence. In 2009, the medical center received Magnet status from the Commission on the Magnet Recognition Program. This is the gold standard for recognizing nursing excellence and collaboration among all care providers and patients. Of approximately 5,700 hospitals in the United States, only 6 percent have achieved this status from the Magnet Recognition Program.
